Sunday, March 4, 2012

Don't Retire, Retrain: Decreasing the Dependency Ratio

How will the US pay for the growing number of citizens 65+?Many gloomy projections
assume that older adults no longer contribute to the economy. They are factored in census dependency
ratios along with minors ages 0 to 17 who are largely incapable of making a contribution to society
through earning wages or through volunteer work.Labeling all adults 65+ as dependence on par with minors enacts a gross
generalization.

In 2010. the U.S. Census Bureau predicted that “the number of people 65 and older to every
100 people of traditional working ages is projected to climb rapidly from 22
in 2010 to 35 in 2030.”However, economic factors
and personal factors make it likely that older adults will work either for pay
or as volunteers for more years and intohigher age brackets than their own parents did.

Some of
these factors include the increase age for full benefits of Social Security,
the depleted retirement accounts based on poor stock market performance, poor
real estate performance,increased
longevity, and improved health of older adults. Working beyond 65 isn't always just an economic necessity. Many have the drive to share their talents rather than spend decades in leisure activities.

Older adults
who work and otherwise stay socially engaged have lower rates of depression and
higher general levels of health.And
they have hard-won wisdom to contribute to the workplace and their communities.
An encouraging vision for a
multigenerational workforce is one forged by Marc Freedman, author of Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the
Second Half of Life.He has
identified a number of predictors for the role of older workers in our
near-future economy.To cite just one, Bridgspan, a
consulting firm that works extensively with nonprofits, predicts that by 2016,
“these organizations will need almost 80,000 new senior managers per year.”

However, certain challenges exist for older workers.For older adults to maintain a commanding
presence in the workplace, they need to retool—as do workers of all ages.Government funded job training programs are designed
for the poorest among older adults, those earning 125% of the poverty rate or lower.Recipients of these training
programs have the potential of receiving a return on their investment by moving
trainees off government assistance and into tax-generating jobs.

The Aging 4 Action Network recognizes that
older Americans have a lot to offer society as they move into their 60s, 70s, and
even into their 80s and beyond. They recommend that the Senior Community
Service Employment Program(SCSEP) not only continue job training for re-entry in the work place; they also recomment that the SCSEP work together with programs from other areas of the
Older Americans Act “to create a national strategy to tap older volunteers as a
source of social capital to meet critical community needs.”

Recognizing
that older adults need job training tailored to changes to their cognition, Neil
Charness and Sara Czaja offer research-based guidelines in their 2006 reportOlder Worker Training: What We Know and We
Don’t Know.“In order to keep pace
with changes in jobs and job demands, workers need to constantly learn new
skills and new ways of doing things. However, older workers usually have not
had recent training.”

Equipped with the right training, older adults can meet these
needs and others with a little leg up from a variety of sources, including but
not limited to government social services like SCSEP. Corporate training and classes offered in college environments can also help provide ongoing job training.In return, these older workers will bolster
tax revenues and reduce dependence on government programs. Those who work as
volunteers will also address budget shortfalls with their labor capital.

In other words, the 18-to-64-year-old workforce
need not shoulder the entire burden of supporting our graying society.Many people 65+ can offer significant help.

How old were your grandparents when they stopped earning a paycheck? How old were your parents? How old do you plan to be when you stop earning a paycheck? Will you have enough in Social Securities, 401Ks, and savings to meet the rising costs of medical care and long-term care? Leave a comment below.